Customers have a blast at the 2019 Customer Conference

Customers, their families and staff had a blast on Tuesday at the Customer Conference 2019, which took place at the Winchester Science Centre.

Julie Layton, Chief Executive of Advance, opened the day reflecting on the last year and everything that's been achieved, before introducing Andy and Steve (Advance customers who are also trustees of My Life My Choice) who spoke about self advocacy and how we can all use it to help us live the lives we choose.

As well as celebrating our customer, services and achievements over the last year, the day fell during Learning Disability Week 2019. We celebrated the week's theme of "Sport and Inclusion" with an inclusive movement workshop, run by Advance's Hackney drama group. With activities like beach ball volleyball, tug of war and accessible limbo, the group showed us that while we might not all be sports superstars, getting moving can be good for everyone.

Other workshops included Wellbeing and Mindfulness, Being a Friend to the Environment, Crafts, and Getting Your Voice Heard with a member of the Parliamentary Outreach Team.

We have had some great feedback from customers, their families and from staff. 100% said that the conference was “Excellent” or “Good” and that they would come again.

This year almost ¼ of customers said that they hadn’t been to a Customer Conference before, so we are especially delighted that we have reached customers who might not otherwise be involved with Advance events.

Thank you to everybody who came and made the day such a success!